The biggest breakthrough yet is here: No. 6 Jessica Pegula is in the first Grand Slam semifinal of her career with a shocking 6-2, 6-4 dominance over world No. 1 Iga Swiatek. Pegula had never made it past the quarterfinals of a Slam in her career and had never made it past the second round of any major this year.
It is Pegula's fourth career win against the world's best player (three of which came against Swiatek), but her first such win at a major.
Pegula had come this close so far – this was the seventh Slam quarterfinal of her career since 2021 – and for her, winning her home country's Open was a big deal. Pegula is from Buffalo, New York and is the daughter of Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula. Jessica thanked the crowd for helping to get her through.
“I know everyone keeps asking me about it, but I thought, 'I don't know what else to do. I just have to get back on track and win the game,'” Pegula told ESPN after the game. “Thank God I was able to do it and finally FinallyI can say semi-finalist.”
Pegula started the game with enthusiasm, while Swiatek couldn't have played much worse; The American won each of the first four games and from then on achieved a clear set win. Swiatek made 19 unforced errors (compared to just three winners), double-faulted twice and delivered just eight of 22 first serves. Pegula took full advantage, using a steady serve and gliding across the court defensively.
After leaving the court between sets, Swiatek appeared in a new outfit and maintained his performance just as effortlessly as Pegula. Then Pegula earned a break and appeared to be staring at the finish line, needing only to hold serve the rest of the way to win. Unfortunately for her, Swiatek wouldn't go quietly and broke Pegula straight back to serve, capping the decisive bounce-back game with a forehand that hit the line.
If there was an upturn, it was short-lived. With the score at 3-3, Pegula earned another break when Swiatek sent a forehand wide and was broken again. The Polish star player hit the net with her racket on the way to substitution and looked pretty annoyed with her coach. Pegula then held serve the rest of the game and secured the win.
Pegula played excellent defense, maintained her composure (22 unforced errors compared to Swiatek's 41) and won 77% of her first serve points.
“I knew I could do it,” Pegula said. “I just had to go out there and play my game and not get frustrated. Luckily, I was able to take advantage of some things she wasn't doing well early on and then was able to use that momentum throughout the game.”
Pegula will face Karolina Muchova in the semi-finals. Pegula won their only meeting 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in Cincinnati last month.
